After months of delay over legal wrangling, a federal judge says the Army Corps of Engineers can re-start the bidding process for a $700 million contract to build pump stations at the mouths of three drainage canals in New Orleans.

The structures are considered vital because they will close off permanently the canals when hurricanes strike. Two of the canals were breached during Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and caused massive flooding.

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In April 2011 the Army Corps of Engineers awarded a joint venture called CBY Design Builders the contract to build the stations. But that work was contested by competitors.

The Times-Picayune reported that the U.S. Court of Federal Claims on Monday cleared the way for the Army Corps to put out new bids for the work.